I am truly grateful to have been entrusted by Universitas Airlangga with the opportunity to represent our institution at the THE World Academic Summit 2024 held at the University of Manchester (UoM). This event gathered scholars from across the globe, offering an invaluable platform to expand my horizons and deepen my understanding of various academic disciplines.
One of the highlights of the summit was attending lectures by two world-renowned figures who are also part of the UoM faculty. Andre Geim, the physicist and Nobel Prize winner who discovered graphene, shared insights into his groundbreaking research. Additionally, Brian Cox, an esteemed science communicator and recipient of the Michael Faraday Prize, delivered an inspiring talk on the importance of science education. Being able to hear directly from such influential figures was an extraordinary privilege.
During the event, Duncan Ivison, the President of UoM, emphasized a powerful message: “I believe the era of competition is over, we are now in an era of collaboration.” This resonated deeply with me, as it reflects a fundamental shift in the role of universities and higher education. Rankings, while important, are not the ultimate goal. Instead, what matters most is the impact that universities have on advancing knowledge and benefiting society.
Times Higher Education (THE) uses two primary ranking systems: the World University Rankings (WUR), which focuses on academic systems, research output, and citation impact, and the THE Impact Rankings, which assess the societal contributions of universities, particularly in terms of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Interestingly, universities from developing countries dominate the top 100 in the THE Impact Rankings, while the top spots in the WUR are still held by institutions from the UK and the US, such as Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard, MIT, and Stanford.
I am proud to share that Universitas Airlangga has been ranked in the Top 81 globally in the THE Impact Rankings 2024, and we are also ranked second nationally in both the THE WUR and THE Impact Rankings. These achievements underscore our commitment to academic excellence and societal impact.
I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to the leadership of Universitas Airlangga—at the university, faculty, and department levels—for entrusting me with this significant responsibility.
